


The Hong Kong Fiasco

by orphan_account



Series: Different Encounters [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alpha-Omega Supervirus, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hong Kong, Moira Queen (Mentioned) - Freeform, Thea Queen (Mentioned) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 16:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20509910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What if Tommy did find Oliver in Hong Kong? He went to the city for some fundraiser/event/festival with Moira and Thea. They encounter each other during one of Oliver's escape attempts. (Note: In this AU, everything happens like in Canon, until before the Alpha-Omega distribution.)





	The Hong Kong Fiasco

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly I do not own Arrow, because if I did, why would there be a disclaimer?  
As always…
> 
> Enjoy! (:

_Hong Kong…_

"We need to go." Oliver mutters, and Akio looks up at him. They've had a little bit of peace, and Oliver's sudden urge to leave the garden's scares the boy.

"What is it?"

"It's fine." Oliver promises. "We just need to—"

One of them men raises a gun, and Oliver reacts. He grabs Akio and starts running with him. The boy is fast, and can keep up, although Oliver isn't sure for how long.

They whip around a corner, and Oliver ducks an elbow. "Sorry!" He shouts, glancing behind him.

And that's the mistake. It's Tommy. No. No. No.

All of Amanda's threats come to mind, and Oliver is frozen, for barely a second, not moving, as he and Tommy stare at each other, and then Akio shouts in Cantonese. Oliver's learned it from the boy, Maseo, and Tatsu, well enough that he's able to understand, and reacts.

"Oliver! We need to go!" Akio calls, and Oliver's hand whips out, grabbing Tommy's wrist, as he shouts back.

"Akio run!"

The boy obeys, leading the way, and Oliver sprints behind him, trying to bring Tommy with him, and after a moment, the second man runs on his own.

"Oliver—" He pants. "What the—"

"Just run!" Oliver snaps, going faster, and dropping Tommy's hand. He pulls ahead, and then Akio screams, after turning a corner.

"Akio!" Oliver shouts, coming around the corner. The boy is on the ground, unmoving, and three men surround him, all with guns. Oliver notices several things, all at once. The men are not Asian. A small dart is in Akio's neck. And Tommy is lagging behind, for the moment.

Oliver runs at the first man, who is only a step away, and grabs the dart gun, pulling it from the man's hands, and using the American as a shield against the other two, before dropping him, and shooting the other two with the darts. He goes to shoot the third, but before he can, someone else does, except with a bullet, not a dart.

Oliver spins, gun raised, and finds Tatsu and Maseo, the latter with his gun raised, the former running for her son.

"Akio?" She calls out.

"He's alright." Oliver tells her, as both he and Maseo lower their weapons. "Just knocked out."

"What the hell?" Tommy demands, staring at Oliver. "How—What?"

"Long story." Oliver answers, turning to Maseo. "How did you find us?"

"The gardens." Maseo answers, putting his firearm away. "Tatsu thought Akio might remember. Looks like she was right."

"He did remember." Oliver grins. "He's a smart kid."

"Hello?" Tommy demands, and then Oliver looks at him. "Explanation? How are you alive? Why is he the cop that saved me? Who are they?"

"We need to go." Maseo says briskly. "Before more—"

"Shit." Oliver mutters, turning to look behind him. "Someone's coming—"

And then they're surrounded, by men and a few women, all holding handguns.

"Okay!" Tommy shouts in fear, backing up, his hands in the air. "You are very SCARY!"

"Surrender!" One man shouts, and Oliver, Tatsu, and Maseo share a look. "Or we will shoot you."

"Dude, put your hands up!" Tommy cries, as Tatsu slowly stands. The three do, but their hands are close to their waists, as if they can't be bothered. As people step forwards to cuff them, they attack.

Maseo whips out his gun, and shoots three of them in the throats, punching the one closest to him in the face. Tatsu swings her katana, taking down three more, and Oliver holds the man who tried to cuff him in a headlock, as if he's a human shield, using the dart gun to knock out the remaining two, before killing out the one in his arms by breaking his neck.

"_What the hell_?" Tommy hisses, his voice quiet, and coming from his throat, barely audible. "_You just…_"

"We should kill them all." Maseo declares. "So, they can not report us at all."

"_Kill them!_" Tommy repeats in shock.

Tatsu, without hesitation, plunges her sword into the man that her husband knocked out, and then moves to the ones that Oliver shot, killing them as well. Maseo lifted Akio, who was still knocked out, in his arms. "I know a safe place." He says, and Oliver turns to Tommy.

"If you don't come with us, you could die."

"And if I come with you?"

"You could also die." Oliver admits blankly, emotionless. "Your choice."

"Oh no. I'm coming with you, and I'd better get an explanation."

!{-}!

"We'll be safe here." Maseo says, gently setting Akio down on a bed. Tatsu sits beside her son, and while there's a second bed, and two chairs, Oliver sits on the floor, crossing his legs, while Tommy, who has been very pale for the past half hour, takes the bed. Maseo stands.

"Are you going to explain?" Tommy demands, making Oliver look at him, and then sighs.

"You probably haven't heard of A.R.G.U.S."

"Forget the probably." Tommy retorts. "I haven't."

"Oliver was picked up from Lian Yu after a freighter exploded." Maseo says, noticing that Oliver is hesitating. "Waller wanted to make use of his skills, and so far, she has."

"Other than the first five months of escape attempts." Oliver points out, with a faint grin. "Still haven't forgiven you for that."

"You will." Maseo replies confidently.

"What skills?" Tommy asks, and Oliver looks at the ground, not answering. "Oliver?"

He sighs, looking up at Maseo. "Do you have my bow?"

"Yes." Tatsu answers, and points to the bag she was carrying. "You want it?"

"Please." Oliver agrees. "Just in case of something."

Tommy frowns in confusion as Oliver takes out a quiver, and a bow, checking them, and strapping the quiver on. "Why do you have a bow?"

"Part of the skills that Amanda wants." He replies bitterly. "Apparently, I'm useful."

"Really?" Tommy tries to sound incredulous. "You are?"

But Oliver doesn't give him the silly, go-lucky expression. His features turn dark, and he glances over at Tatsu and Maseo, before speaking in… whatever language they speak, and the two nod. Tatsu gives Tommy a look of contempt, before vanishing into the kitchen, and Maseo says something to Oliver, before leaving the apartment.

Akio is asleep still, but Oliver sets his bow down gently, and lifts the boy, walking into the kitchen, and setting him on the table, before coming back into the bedroom, exchanging a few words with Tatsu before he closes the door. At this point, Tommy has lifted the bow, and is trying to pull back the string.

"That's a bad idea." Oliver says, making Tommy jump, and he lets go of the string. Oliver firmly takes the weapon away. "Dry firing a bow like this could destroy it. The shrapnel alone would be cause for a tongue lashing from Tatsu; you don't want that. And I wouldn't have a bow. Then I'd been mad too."

He sits on one of the beds, crossing his legs, and draws the string back, to his cheek.

"So you can, but I can't?" Tommy sums up, and Oliver glares at him, lowering the string back into it's resting position.

"Firstly, I know how to use this; you don't. Second of all, you don't have the arm strength necessary to use this bow correctly."

"And you do?"

"Yes." Comes the simple answer, as Oliver sets the bow down beside him. Reaching behind him, he draws an arrow from the quiver, and studies the head of it. "Last time you were in Hong Kong. You were kidnapped, yes?"

"Yeah…" Tommy says nervously. "And your friend, the cop? He saved me."

"First of all, his name is Maseo." Oliver says, still focused on the arrowhead; probably easier to talk to it than talk to Tommy. "His wife is Tatsu, and their son is Akio. Second of all, Maseo is not a police officer. He took up that role in order to get you to stop searching for me."

"The account alert?" Tommy asks, and Oliver nods blankly, face devoid of expression.

"When I first ended up in Hong Kong, I tried to escape. In five months, I made nine attempts."

"Geez." Tommy mutters. "Stubborn, much?"

"You'd be surprised." Oliver says, earning a frown, but continues on. "So instead of threatening my life, she threatened Akio's. Amanda Waller, head of an organization that I can't tell you about."

"Why not?"

"Because when you were trying to find me, she had me set up on a roof with a sniper rifle. She wanted me to kill you."

The tone in which he says this is so empty, flat, and bare that Tommy can't even think for a few moments. The moment he can, he starts putting the pieces together. "You kidnapped me so that you didn't have to kill me."

A nod.

"You were right behind me."

Another nod.

"And if they know that I know something, something bad will happen to me? They'll kill me."

A third, and final nod is the answer he gets.

Tommy closes his eyes, fighting the tears. His fists clench, and he stands alone in the middle of the room, just listening to Tatsu chattering away in whatever language, Akio replying just as quick, having apparently woken up.

So, when someone grabs his shoulders, he jumps, eyes flying open to find Oliver's, right beside him. "Could you not sneak up on me?" He demands, and his friend flashes a sorry smile.

"Habits." He admits, then his face turns serious, as does his tone. "If they try to hurt you Tommy, I swear, they will regret it."

"You mean you'll kill them." Oliver doesn't answer, and Tommy runs a hand through his hair as they separate. "Oliver, what the hell? You can't just kill in cold blood!"

Oliver turns away, and sits on the bed, pressing his back against the wall, pulling his knees to his chest, closing his eyes. "I do what I have too."

Silence.

"What happened to you?"

Oliver looks down at his hands. "I don't know."

Silence, yet again.

"And that scares you." Tommy realizes. "You're scared."

Oliver doesn't answer verbally at first. He leans his head on his knee's as he hugs his legs, tucking his chin in, trying to curl up on himself. "I keep lashing out." His voice is muffled, but Tommy can hear it well enough.

"What do you mean?" He asks nervously, taking a slow step forwards.

"I keep on having nightmares." Oliver clarifies. "Of the _Gambit_ sinking. Sara being pulled under. Of the _Amazo_ exploding. Shado's death, Yao Fei's death. The people I've tortured and killed. Everything that has happened in the past three years hasn't been good, not really. And if it is, the people that make it good for me die. Either they betray me, leave me, or die."

"Hey." Tommy says, reaching forwards, and sitting beside his friend. He peels Oliver's fingers from the fabric that they clutch, hyper-aware of how firm the grip is. He makes Oliver look up at him. "I am not going to betray you. I am not going to leave you. And I am certainly not going to die on you."

"You can't make that promise." Oliver scoffs.

"Yes, I can." Tommy counters. "I just did. And I intend to keep that promise, until you say it's OK for me to die. But you're not allowed to say that until I've been married for at least forty years and am a hundred-and-two."

Oliver scoffs again, this time smiling a little. "What if I die before you?" He asks, and Tommy grins.

"Then, my friend, I shall find the Philosophers Stone, and become immortal."

Oliver stares at him blankly. "What?"

"Philosophers Stone? Harry Potter?"

When Oliver shows no recognition, Tommy groans. "How have you not read Harry Potter?"

"Is it new?" Oliver asks, sounding confused. "Because I haven't been able to catch up very much."

"No, it's not new!" Tommy complains. "Oliver, seriously, you wouldn't read a book to save your life."

Oliver snorts. "That's ironic."

"What?""The Odyssey. It saved my life."

Tommy blinks. "Okay then. Did you throw it at someone, or…"

Oliver swats him, but it packs more punch than Tommy remembers. "Ow." He complains, then shuts up when Oliver tells him about the pass-phrase and trying to call Laurel.

"She told me about that." He muses. "She thought it was weird; why didn't you say anything?"

"Don't know. By the time I got around to saying anything, Slade cut the line, disconnecting the call."  
They mostly sit in silence, until Tatsu pokes her head in.

"Oliver?"

"Yeah?" He answers, scooting forwards, and standing up. "Do you want help cooking?"

"Yes." She answers, then glares at Tommy. "Can he cook?"

"Unless you want the fire department here, then no." Oliver says, before Tommy can speak. "He could watch though."

Tatsu purses her lips, as Oliver walks past, into the kitchen/living room. "You." She decides, pointing at Tommy. "You will set the table."

She says in the tone that informs you that there is no choice except to try to do as she asks. Tommy nods and stands up.

!{-}!

Tommy sits on the floor beside Akio, who is drawing in a notebook, humming softly, not seeming to care. Tommy watches as Tatsu orders Oliver around the kitchen, instructing him as they work on the meal. It pays off; as it turns out, both Tatsu and Oliver are good cooks, and Maseo didn't die while he was out, (apparently there's some kind of history in presumed deaths with this group, Tommy doesn't ask) so all is well. Until Oliver, Maseo, and Tatsu start talking about how to… Tommy doesn't even want to know what they're talking about, so he picks up the plates and cutlery, walking to the sink, and starts washing them. He takes his time, not wanting to know what's happening, but then someone joins him as he's drying the items.

Looking up, he finds Oliver, who's face is a blank mask of nothing, void of emotions.

Finally, Tommy speaks. "What's going on here?"

Oliver considers the question before answering. "An American General wants to release a bio-weapon on Hong Kong, in the hopes of destabilising its economy."

"That's dark."

Oliver gives no answer. "How's Laurel?" He asks finally, and Tommy looks at him in surprise.

"She's furious at you still."

"I'd imagine." Oliver agrees. "Quintin was quite drunk when I saw him. He's not handling very well, is he?"

"Laurel keeps dragging him out of bars and covering for him." Tommy snorts. "Thinks Sara is an angel; and not just in the Heaven sense."

He glances up at Oliver. "Did she survive? Make it to that island?"

Oliver's eyes close painfully. "It doesn't matter. I made a promise."

Tommy makes a soft 'oh' sound and doesn't talk again.

!{-}!

"Oliver, what are you doing?" Tommy asks, watching as his friend takes apart a cell phone, laying the separate parts out on a towel.

"Taking apart your phone."

"What?!" Tommy yelps, earning a glare from Tatsu, but is ignored by Maseo and Akio. Lowering his voice, he repeats the question. "What? Why are you doing that?"

Oliver lifts a small chip, and holds it out to Tommy, who accepts it. "That's a bug." He informs him dryly. "I took your phone off of you before we got here, removed the battery so the devices wouldn't pick anything up. Only just got around to that. Mind throwing it out the window or something?"

Tommy does so, then goes and sits down across from Oliver again, as he puts the cell phone together again, then passes it over. "Just don't call anyone. I took the GPS out too."

"How do you know how to do this?" Tommy asks, and Oliver looks up from folding the towel.

"Amanda taught me things."

!{-}!

"I see you found your friend, Mr. Queen." The woman says, in a tone of indifference. "Have you forgotten my promise to you?"

Tommy swallows nervously, as Oliver plants himself between the woman and his best friend, looking _very_ scary as he does so. "Have you forgotten who has the bow and arrow Amanda?" He retorts, and Amanda smiles thinly.

"Touché, Mr. Queen."

"Oliver?" Tommy asks, trying not to let his voice squeak. "Who is this?"

"Tommy, meet Amanda Waller. The woman who had me waterboarded." Oliver says bitterly, and Tommy does not miss the pure hate under his words. Okay. So, this woman is bad. Very bad.

"I don't think we'll be great friends." He says sarcastically, and Akio snickers.

"We have a vaccine." Oliver says, lifting a small black case. "Against the Alpha-Omega."

"Have I ever told you that I hate needles?" Tommy asks, as Oliver opens the case, showing equipment.

"Shut up unless you want to die." He orders, and Tommy holds his arm out.

"Shutting up."

!{-}!

"Damn it!" Oliver shouted, then broke off, and Tommy could only guess what the words meant, since he didn't speak whatever language Oliver was yelling in.

"We need to get out of here." Maseo shouts over the chaos, and Oliver nods sharply. "Tatsu, get Akio!"

!{-}!

Tommy stared at the young boy who lay in Tatsu's lap, blood trickling from his mouth. Tatsu was speaking softly in whatever language she spoke. Tommy had been trying to entertain the boy earlier, with stories from books that he remembered from his childhood, but he'd run out of stories a long time ago. Finally, the door opened. Tommy looked up. Maseo, Oliver, and a man in a military uniform where there.

"He has a cure." Oliver manages to say, somewhat breathless.

"Actually, I don't." The man snarls back.

"Then what's in the case?" Oliver snarls.

"Insulin. I'm diabetic."

Oliver makes to go for the man, but stops when the man points at his chest, where a few red dots hover. "I'd like to thank you." He says, pulling out a cigar. "It would have taken us weeks to track you all down."

After a bit more of the man talking, both Maseo and Oliver move. Tommy looks away, back down at Akio, who's breathing is weak. When he looked up, Oliver had a very angry expression, while Maseo looked stricken.

And then the boy let out a weak cough and moved no more.

"Akio?" Tommy asked softly. "Akio, wake up."

They boy lay still, and Tatsu let out a sob, reaching for her husband, as Oliver and Maseo stepped forwards. Oliver crouched beside the boy, and reached out, gently sliding his eyes shut, and then stands. Tommy rises, and steps around the boy, taking Oliver in a hug, knowing that he needs it.

Oliver doesn't fight, but Tommy can feel the anger.

!{-}!

"Oliver, what are you doing?" Tommy asks, following his friend back into the store. Oliver sets down the urn, lifting his bow and an arrow.

"I told you." He says flatly. "They betray, leave, or die."

Then he turns the General Shrive. "Waller took me off Lian Yu because she thought I had skills. Let me show you."

Tommy looks away but can't stop hearing the screams.

!{-}!

"I can't go back." Oliver whispered, staring at the corpse of General Shrive. "That's why I can't ever come back."

Tommy grabs Oliver by the shoulders. His first instinct is to yell at him, scold him, be angry and scary and fierce. But Oliver is scolding himself enough. Oliver is angry at himself already. And let's face it; Oliver is a lot scarier than Tommy ever will be.

"Listen to me." He orders, and then gives his friend a slight shake. Oliver's head lolls, but then he focuses, blue eyes meeting Tommy's. "Thea misses you. I miss you. Your mom misses you."

"I can't." Oliver whispers. "I can't bring this back onto them."

Tommy's heart aches for what happened to his friend, and words appear in his head to describe it, each one getting more and more vile than the last.

_Broken._

_No. Shattered._

_No. Destroyed._

_No. Annihilated._

_No. None of those._

_Ended._

"You won't." Tommy decides. "You'll come to America with me, and be a secret, and watch how much trouble Thea gets into, and— Oh my God, I didn't tell you about Thea."

Oliver's eyes drop to the floor. "I know about Jordan. The problems she has."

"How?" Tommy demands. "Wait. Jordan died. Oliver..."

"I did it." He whispers. "I thought I was protecting her. I just told him to stay away. But he recognized me. I had too."

Tommy, without thinking, pulls Oliver in, forcing him into a hug. For a few moments, he's stiff, as if waiting for Tommy to stab him (not the craziest thing so far) and then seems to accept that it won't happen and accepts the hug.

"I really wanted to do the same thing to him." He admits, and Oliver seems to relax.

"Sorry about ruining your party." He replies, and Tommy pulls back, grinning.

"Damn. You were watching, weren't you?"

Oliver nods sheepishly.

"You wanted to punch me for letting Thea walk past, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah." Oliver nods. "And then say thank you, afterwards. For protecting her from Lance."

"You're welcome." Tommy grins, then mock punches him in the shoulder. "Dude, you owe me a party or something."

"Yeah, Yeah." Oliver murmurs, glancing over at Maseo and Tatsu. He calls out in whatever language that is (Tommy sucks with languages) and Tatsu steps forwards, as her husband leaves.

"Where's Maseo going?" Oliver asks, and Tatsu, still teary, sighs.

"The line between guilt and grief is a thin one." She says softly, her accent pleasing as always. "He blames himself for Akio."

"He should blame Shrive." Oliver growls, making Tommy flinch.

Walking into the room, as Oliver stared at the beaten body of General Shrive, before standing and speaking, it was like having his eyes fully opened. That was this Oliver. This Oliver who has hurt Tommy, waking up from a dream.

Tommy wasn't sure if Oliver trusted himself, much less him, but he was determined to change that. He was going to be there, like it or not. Because Oliver needed an anchor.

Briefly considering signing on to come up with quotes for fortune cookies, Tommy glances up at Oliver, as he and Tatsu finish their conversation. The woman nods kindly to him. "Stay out of trouble, Thomas Merlyn."

And then she's gone.

"She doesn't like me." Tommy comments, as Oliver starts gathering his things. The blond looks up at him with a very faint smile.

"You're wrong." He replies, sounding like he's quoting someone. "She hates you."

"Did she hate you?"

"Oh yeah. Couldn't do my laundry—"

Tommy snorts.

"Couldn't cook—"

"You cook now?"

Oliver gives him a look that clearly means 'Shut Up'. Tommy does.

"Talked with her son. She warmed up through, after a while. Helped me meditate for a mission."

Tommy splutters at that, as Oliver gently lifts the urn that holds Akio's ashes, checking to make sure it's screwed on tightly, before setting it in the wooden green case. "Meditate?"

"It's useful." Oliver defends, closing the case, and locking it. "What are you going to tell my mother? About where you've been?"

"That I got drunk, lost, and meet a girl." Tommy flashes a grin. "She'll buy it."

"That's depressing."

!{-}!

"Oliver, where are you going?" Tommy demands, as the two reach a small mall, and Tommy leads the way inside.

"Coast City." Comes the confident answer.

"Not Starling?"

Oliver glares at him. "Did you even see Shrive? How do you think Thea will react?"

"I think she'll be thrilled to see her big brother." Tommy answers honestly. "Oliver, come on! Send a letter with me! A photo! Anything!"

A faint smile graces Oliver's lips. "A photo?"

"Yeah!" Tommy agrees. "I have my phone. I mean, you probably broke it, but I can still take photos."

Oliver sets his case down on the floor, beside a wall, and reaches into his pocket, withdrawing a wrinkled, faded, wallet-sized photo. He passes it to Tommy, who almost gags at the sight of Laurel.

"When?"

"Before the Gambit left." Oliver barely whispers. "Slade kept saying I'd wear it out by looking at it. Yao Fei told me to forget her; that I wouldn't survive if I remembered."

"Did you forget?" Tommy asks, just as quietly.

"I don't know." Oliver answers, and Tommy passes it back.

"A photo for Thea." He wheedles. "Please? I'll bonk her on the head so she forgets, right after."

He squirms under the newest glare. "Or I could not."

The glare lessens. "One picture."

They take it of the both of them, Oliver faintly smiling at the camera, Tommy with a goofy grin on his face. They print it at a nearby store, three copies, all the same size as Oliver's image of Laurel. One for Thea. One for Tommy. One for Oliver. Tommy also buys Oliver a new phone, and it's almost immediately taken apart by the blond, who puts it back together afterwards. Tommy also gives Oliver a couple hundred bucks, and they exchange numbers (A.K.A. Tommy learns Oliver's number) with a promise from Oliver that he'll contact Tommy when possible, and if he needs something. They hug, and exchange good-byes, before parting.

Taking a cab towards the hotel, Tommy fiddles with Oliver's contact, finally settling on the name of 'CSTWY', short for Castaway. Tommy figures that distancing himself from his family means that Oliver is still on an island, but he's determined to change that.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be called 'Fiasco's', and there are three parts that I have planed. This one, (The Hong Kong Fiasco) and then season one of Arrow, divided into two parts. Part One, 'The Hood Fiasco', covers everything from 'Pilot' to 'Trust but Verify', and then Part Two, 'The Starling Fiasco', covers from 'Vertigo' to 'Sacrifice'. Each chapter will cover (mostly) the events in that episode, but some of them will be different, (Dodger, as an example) but they should all have similar effects.  
This is sort of the prologue to that. I'm still writing those, so suggestions for what should/could happen are very welcome!  
Please leave a review if you liked it, and feel free to make suggestions or requests for what could happen.
> 
> Flurkin!  
(:


End file.
